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April 27, 2005
Would Everybody Please Take a Deep Breath
Why is everybody so "rivalry"-crazy when it comes to the Red Sox?
Okay, the Sox-Yanks rivalry is a good one, and it makes sense. The teams are in the same division, they're close to each other in terms of geography, and they often have comparable records (although the Sox tend to beat the Yankees more often than the other way around, Giambi's* post-season swats aside). Also, there's a ton of history between the teams. All of those things spell high drama, and they're great for the game.
(Speaking of the Yankees, everybody needs to get over the fact that A-Slap had one really good game last night.)
But why on Earth would anybody want to call the unpleasantness between the Sox and the Devil Rays a "rivalry"? Tampa Bay just happens to like to throw inside at Boston, and the Sox don't like to sit still for it. That's hardly a rivalry. That's Tampa Bay's pitchers being assholes. Calling it a rivalry is a little like Kim Jong Il wanting to negotiate exclusively with the US, so he can seem like he's one of the big boys. He's a crazy little man, and Tampa Bay would do well to look elsewhere for their role models.
If you want to put the Sox in a rivalry with someone, why not look in the direction of Baltimore? Last year, regardless of how well Boston was doing against everybody else in the league, they would invariably come out behind the O's. I'd be lying if I said that my post-series bliss in the off-season wasn't tempered a little by the thought that it might not be a fluke. Sure enough, Lord Baltimore's Orioles seem to have Boston's number again this year. Somebody needs to tell Sammy Sosa that he was only brought in to put people in the seats. He doesn't need to perform like that any more. Besides, he's not even the core of the O's strength. Miguel Tejada and Bruce Chen seem to be managing quite nicely.
Of course, the greatest rivalry the Sox will ever have is with themselves, as they proved last night. The Orioles couldn't have come back from a seven-run deficit without a lot of help from Matt Clement and Keith Foulke. It turns out that dispelling the Curse of the Bambino didn't do much to shore up the Sox ability to hold onto a lead. I guess some things will never ever change.
And that's why I'm a problem drinker.
Posted by matt at April 27, 2005 10:18 AM
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Comments
your language offends me but I guess it makes sense when you use it like that!
Posted by: Shamrock at April 27, 2005 06:24 PM
you know i don't like it anymore than you do, Shamrock. i think i'm back in the "nobody hits my kid brother but me" phase of sox fandom. if a yank fan said any of that to me, it'd be a different story.
Posted by: matt at April 27, 2005 08:57 PM
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